Journal-box.



No. 767,581. I PATENTED AUG. 16', 1904. s. M. LEWIS.

JOURNAL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18. 1900.

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F SM W PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

S. M. LEWIS. JOURNAL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1900.

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UN TED STATES Patented August 16, 1904-.

PAT NT OFFICE.

JOURNAL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,581, dated August 16, 1904.

Application filed August 18, 1900. Seiial No. 27,294. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. LEwIs,a citi- Zen of the United States, and a resident of Portsmouth, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in J ournal-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to that class of axle-boxes in which the lid is hinged to a pintle-lug arranged at the top of the box and provided with a flat spring which is secured at its lower end to the lid and adapted to bear at its upper free end against said lug. Heretofore the lid-spring has been constructed to yieldingly interlock with a shoulder, notch, or flat face of the pintle-lug for holding the lid in its open position; but this construction requires the lid to be opened to a predetermined position in order to cause the spring to interlock with the pintle-lug.

I One of the objects of my invention is to provide a simple and effective retaining device which will hold the lid in a more or less open position without requiring the same to be opened to a definite or predetermined extent.

Another object of my invention is to improve the construction of the axle-box with a View of effectually preventing the entrance of dust at the edges of the lid.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure is a vertical longitudinal section of an axle-box containing my improvements, showing the lid closed. Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the lid open. Fig. 3 is a front view of the box with the lid closed. Fig. 4; is a similar view with the lid open.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A is the lubricant-chamber of the axle-box, andlA the usual filling-opening in its front wa Bis the lid, which is hinged to the boX by the transverse pintle Z2, which passes through the usual eyes 0 of the lid and the upright pintle-lug (Z, arranged at the top of the axlebox.

The filling-opening A is provided with the usual outwardly-projecting marginal rim (4, and this rim is formed around the four sides of the filling-opening with a rabbet or recess a, in which the lid is seated or countersunk when closed, as shown in Fig. 3. The lid is provided at its lower edge with a central lip or thumb-piece a for opening it, which lip is seated in a notch (4 formed in the rim (0, when the lid is closed. By countersinking the lid in this manner the rim (0 incloses the edges of the lid and formsa guard which prevents dust and cinders from entering the axleboX at this point.

E is the lid-spring, arranged on the inner side of the lid and secured at its lower end to the same. The pintle-lug (Z is provided in its under side with an opening or recess f, in which the upper end of the lid-spring engages when the lid is closed, as shown in Fig. 1. This recess has a straight upright front wall, and the upper portion of the lid-spring is bent so as to bear squarely against said wall, as shown at f in Fig. 1. The free end of the spring is curved or rounded, as shown at f and is adapted to bear against the front face of the pintle-lug when the lid is opened for holding the lid in its open position. The upper front portion g of said face is preferably concentric with the pintle I), as shown, while the remaining front portion thereof is constructed of gradually-increasing radius to form a cam or eccentric g, which terminates at the front wall of the recess f. Upon opening the lid the free end of its spring E rides over the lower front edge of the recess f and up on the eccentric face 9 of the pintle-lug d. In riding over the lower front edge of said recess the lid-spring is further strained or deflected, and in passing upwardly over the eccentric face 9 of the pintle-lug the same is somewhat relaxed, the free end of the spring bearing against the upper concentric face g of said lug when the lid is raised to the position shown in Fig. 2, in which position the box can be conveniently packed. The resistance due to the frictional contact of the strained lid-spring with the face of the pintlelug is greater than the weight of the overhanging lid when open, and the spring therefore holds the lid in its open position, and as the eccentricface g of the lug widens or increases in radius downwardly, the spring is further strained and its resistance correspondingly increased as its free end approaches the lower end of the eccentric face. By this construction the spring reliably holds the lid in any position in which it may be left or placed in opening it and no care is required to open the lid fully or to a predetermined extent, as is necessary when its springinterlocks with a shoulder, flat face, or notch of the pintle-lug. As the concentric and eccentric faces 7 g of the lug are practically smooth and continuous, the lid-spring slides freely over the same and the lid can be opened or closed with comparatively little effort. Upon'closing the lid its flat end portion enters the recess f in the under side of the pintle-lug, holding the lid in its closed position.

I claim as my invention The combination of a journal-box provided with a filling-opening and having at its top a substantially upright pintle-lugg'the front face of which is convexed continuously from S. M. LEWIS.

WVitnesses:

A. B. BUTT, T. A. DASIIIELL. 

